"You wash me," she said. She stepped into the water and turned her back to Eddie. Then she pulled the embroidered baro over her head.

He recoiled. Her skin was horribly burned.

Mitch Albom -- The Five People You Meet in Heaven

He recoiled.

Alex Flinn -- Beastly

The blood of his body recoiled before it.

Jack London -- To Build a Fire

...the lion turned toward him, but Thalia stepped into its path, holding up Aegis, and the lion recoiled.

Rick Riordan -- The Titan’s Curse

"Gotcha," he said, and his hand recoiled like he’d fired.

David Almond -- Skellig

"You jest," he exclaimed, recoiling a few paces.

Edgar Allan Poe -- The Cask of Amontillado

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...stirring up the scent of pine, and even then I knew I would recoil all my life from the smell of it.

Sue Monk Kidd -- The Secret Life of Bees

"A little revolver like this doesn’t have much recoil," he said, "but it takes some getting used to."

Carl Deuker -- Gym Candy

The knife, driven by the recoil of the spring tree, had not wholly failed.

Richard Connell -- The Most Dangerous Game

Estragon recoils in horror.

Samuel Beckett -- Waiting for Godot

The idea had been in the back of her mind for a long time, but she recoiled from it instinctively: the suggestion of a final separation was unbearable to her, but she knew that a day would come when there would be no putting off, no concealment.

Harper Lee -- Go Set a Watchman

I wince and recoil—my lashes are still painful.

Sabaa Tahir -- An Ember in the Ashes

Miss Milhouse recoiled.

Margaret Peterson Haddix -- Uprising

They recoiled at my words, and the tremors running down Lucy’s little body almost made me regret saying them.

Kiera Cass -- The Elite

As her hand met his chest and she looked up, she felt a burst of recognition and she recoiled.

Nicholas Sparks -- The Longest Ride

She bolted upright, her whole body recoiling.

Cassandra Clare -- City of Heavenly Fire

The recoil was strong but he leaned into it this time, felt the bump of pain on his shoulder.

James Dashner -- The Kill Order

He goes to one knee beside the cot, then recoils when he sees my face, the sallow skin, the swollen lips, and the sunken bloodshot eyes that are the telltale signs of the plague.

Rick Yancey -- The 5th Wave

The big recruit goes down to his knees, ramming the recoil pad of his rifle against his shoulder, but he isn’t hit, either.

Rick Yancey -- The Infinite Sea

She recoiled.

Dave Eggers -- The Circle

That stung me, and I recoiled instinctively, as if to protect myself.

Ransom Riggs -- Hollow City

I tried to imagine it: curling my finger around the trigger and squeezing; the recoil and the awful report.

Ransom Riggs -- Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

It wasn’t so much the idea of them seeing my body, although the thought made me recoil.

Piper Kerman -- Orange Is the New Black

Though he had maintained a pretense of professionalism—he would have sounded the same way had he been speaking to Dr. Furman—Gabby had felt herself recoil.

Nicholas Sparks -- The Choice

We know he encouraged Chindit to fart whenever possible in her vicinity and by raising his eyebrows would surreptitiously make us feel it was she who made us recoil to the other end of the room.

Michael Ondaatje -- Running in the Family

He reached out to place his hand on her arm, and she recoiled from his touch.

Kass Morgan -- The 100

Cinder squeezed her fists together, nerves twisting in the base of her stomach, as Kai recoiled from the image.

Marissa Meyer -- Cinder

I recoiled.

Rick Riordan -- The Trials of Apollo

They had to fight the urge to recoil.

Trenton Lee Stewart -- The Mysterious Benedict Society

Kit recoiled, as much from his angry tone as from the repulsive words.

Elizabeth George Speare -- The Witch of Blackbird Pond

The princess suddenly stared into Celaena’s eyes with a ferocity that made the assassin recoil slightly.

Sarah J. Maas -- Throne of Glass

All three visitors recoiled.

Jerry Spinelli -- Wringer

He recoiled as if I had struck him.

Mildred D. Taylor -- Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

It’s not a happy story, and Molly has learned through experience that people either recoil or don’t believe her or, worse, pity her.

Christina Baker Kline -- Orphan Train

She pictured him puffing up the stairs, squeezing through the door, looking disapprovingly at the clutter in their house, recoiling from Poppy’s sticky hands—no, it wouldn’t do.

Jeanne DuPrau -- The City of Ember

She would employ the classic push-pull to control recoil when she fired.

David Baldacci -- Zero Day

Her hands find Madame’s face, and the old woman’s cheek is so hot that Marie-Laure’s fingers recoil as though scalded.

Anthony Doerr -- All the Light We Cannot See

I fist my hands, recoiling slightly at the feel of his fingertips on my cheek.

Colleen Hoover -- Hopeless

She recoils slightly, just a fraction of an inch.

Lauren Oliver -- Delirium

I recoiled almost instantly at her tone more than her words.

Alexandra Bracken -- The Darkest Minds

It all may not have been much—measured against his nauseous mouthings which would have caused the most hidebound Virginia reactionary to recoil—but it was something.

William Styron -- Sophie’s Choice

I try to think the way he wants me to, but recoil.

Margaret Atwood -- Cat’s Eye

She recoiled her hand.

Rick Riordan -- The Blood of Olympus

I flung back the lid, and recoiled at once from the stench that gusted out.

Diana Gabaldon -- Outlander

I can open you an account in Switzerland for the rest of it and give you a bank book and that way — what?" he said, recoiling almost, when I put the stack of bills in the bag, snapped it shut, and shoved it back at him.

Donna Tartt -- The Goldfinch

’Parlay voo Frongsay?’ began Peter, boldly, and the next moment the crowd recoiled again, for the man with the wild eyes had left leaning against the wall, and had sprung forward and caught Peter’s hands, and began to pour forth a flood of words which, though he could not understand a word of them, Peter knew the sound of.